War of the Dragon
by Kilpikonna
Summary: Harry was supposed to have another dull summer at the Dursleys'. However there are scales growing on his skin and it is not long until he finds himself sitting in a puddle in an unknown forest in a form of a Dragon. Where will he wind help and home? With dragon tamers on his trail and the war against Voldemort spreading across the wizarding community, what can one dragon-shaped boy
1. Prologue

**Hi, so this is my first fic. I don't own potter and so on.**

**This is just _a very fast prologue_ to get things started. Later chapters will probably be a little bit different.**

**I have no beta and my native language is Finnish, so I apologize about all errors and weird phrases.**  
**Can`t give warnings, because I don't yet know what will be needed, but I do like to read dark stuff, so there may be some warnings in future.**  
**Comments and constructive criticism is very welcome.**

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**Updated 31.7.2014, betaed by Shyannie**

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It was a summer. A boy named Harry was sitting on the floor. Harry was not a particularly happy boy at the moment. He had felt, was feeling a devastating loss. All at once, some of his oldest hopes and dreams had been mashed. He had lost the future that might have been. If only he hadn't acted so rashly… At the same time would there really have been any other path that he could have chosen?

It was too late to change anything though and his feelings were myriad of sadness, self-blame, depression and hatred. Why had this happened to him? They were supposed to care about him… Why couldn't they just tell him the truth? Every year he had to live with the fear of unknown and unanswered questions. People telling him that it all was for his own good and ordering him to follow orders blindly.

Then he was left all alone again, haunting the upstairs of his "home". A summer without any news or information was again in the front of him. Even Hedwig was gone, as it had not felt save to have her near the Dursleys'. She was too important, too precious. It was better that she was safe elsewhere, even if he lost her companionship for the summer.

Hedwig was now safe, but now he had no way to contact anyone. And he _needed_ to contact someone. For among all the other emotions, apprehension and fear were starting to grip him.

Something strange was happening.

It had started as an itch, but developed to something else. The Dursleys had seen it first... They had ordered him to wash away the dirt on his skin, only to find out that there was no dirt. Instead a little black scales were growing on him. They were as dark as night and smooth like glass. They weren't fragile tough, Harry felt that he could hit the scales with a hammer and they would not bend. He could now feel their weight on him.

They immediately locked him in the cellar. After all, they had learned that he could escape far too easily from the bedroom upstairs. They just didn't know what else to do with the freak. Taking the boy to hospital was just unthinkable! Contacting those freaks that their nephew associated with was certainly not an option. So they tried to ignore the situation by locking him out of their own and neighbors sights- and their own.

It was hard to say who was more alarmed, Harry or the Dursleys. The Dursleys had only their dull imagination that shied from all unusual things, when trying to come up with explanations of what was happening. Harry, however, had heard and read of all kinds of wizarding diseases and maladies, both real and imaginary. He also had a fair bit more imagination than the Dursleys.

He had tried to pry out some of the scales, but that had hardly really worked. His only accomplishment was a puddle of blood and pain. It could have been possible to get rid of the scales by cutting them off with his skin, but that hadn't seemed to be a very wise option. Now he kind of hoped that he had the nerve to cut the scales off when they first appeared. The scales had grown and multiplied alarmingly fast, and by now he would die from blood loss or infections if he tried to remove them.

So all he could do was to think about Sirius' death or panic about the spreading scales. Oh the joy.

* * *

It was only few weeks into the summer, and the scales had already grown and spread to cover almost all of his skin. Petunia had screamed in the morning when she had bought porridge. Apparently the scales had spread to cover his face during the night. Needles to say, he had heard quite a bit of yelling from upstairs, but nobody opened the door to the basement for the rest of the day.

Harry was panicking more and more. At the beginning he had probably been in some kind of shock. Few days had gone by and everything felt so unreal. He had wished with all his heart that he could just wake up in his dormitory and everything would be normal. Or at least as normal as was possible in a school full of adolescent wizards and witches.

That didn't happened. Harry was feeling an increasing need to escape Privet Drive. To see his friends and to get help. Someone in the magical world could get rid of the scales and heal him. It would no doubt require some nasty potions, but that would be okay. Or what if it was too late? If this was some spell that Voldemort had cast without anyone noticing. The scales were similar to those of a snake and snakes were definitely something that gave Voldemort a hard-on. Would the scales just consume and kill him or give Voldemort a power over him?

His thoughts were interrupted when Vernon threw the door open and blundered his way into the basement. The vein in his temple was pulsating angrily and he was shouting about ungrateful freaks and abominations. That was all familiar to Harry, but the gun that his uncle was waving around was definitely not.

Before Harry could say or do anything Vernon aimed the gun in his general direction and pressed the trigger. The bullet flew faster than any spell and before Harry had time to duck, it struck him. Harry felt the bullet him like a mighty hammer blow and felt the vibrations in his bones. It threw him out of balance and he started to fall. The bullet, however, could not pass the hard scales. Instead it ricocheted and ended up in Vernon's chest cavity. That's karma for you.

Vernon's expression turned from anger to shock. The gun dropped from his hands and he clutched his chest. He collapsed to his knees and brought his hands before his eyes. They were bloody… Bloody like his shirt that was just getting redder and redder.

At that moment Petunia and Dudley ran to the room. They started both to yell and scream. Harry rose up so that he was leaning against the wall. His chest hurt, the screaming was hurting his ears, and his mind was full of incoherent babble. When his mind cleared a little there were three thoughts that screamed above the rest.

_He tried to kill me. He's dead, dead, dead. Have to get out of here. NOW_

His magic heard his plea, and whisked him away.

* * *

Harry woke up in a forest clearing. It was night and the moon was shining upon him with soft light. He could feel the roots and stones digging into him. His throat was painfully dry and the thirst motivated him to look around in hopes of finding something to drink. He could see a little pond that reflected the moon and the tall trees around the clearing. Harry stood up and walked unsteadily to the water's edge and drank deeply. Only after he had quenched his thirst he remembered the dangers of spoiled water. He watched the waves in the pond and wondered if he had just poisoned himself. However as the ripples across the water ended he was able to see his image for first time in weeks.

Maybe he screamed as loud as Petunia had.

Well, at least he wouldn't have problems with taming his hair anymore, as his whole head was now covered in the scales. Even his eyelids had very small scales and instead of eyebrows he had a ridge of scales. Where Voldemort was snakeface, he was now some kind of lizardboy. There was only one spot in his forehead that remained uncovered.

Except even that small bit of a skin was rapidly being covered. His eyed widened as the last gap was covered by a scale and he could feel a massive amounts of magic rising all around him. There were suddenly waves upon waves of magic and they all crashed upon him. It felt amazing. It was like pure power was running in his veins and revitalizing him. It felt like he was one with the magic and like he almost could see the shape of the magic and truly understand its song.

It was bliss. If he ever lived through this all this, and one day have sex, it would probably feel boring after this. The feeling only grew until it felt too good. The feeling was so pleasurable, that it started to be pain. In the end he could not take it anymore and remain sane at the same time, and so his brain shut down.

* * *

When he woke up, he was in a different clearing. The trees here were smaller and he was lying in a puddle. Or he thought he was. The feeling of water was different than he was used to, probably because he no longer felt it with his skin. He was aching all over so he just closed his eyes again and laid there for a moment.

Harry's mind started to woke slowly, and he started to recognize that something had changed. He felt different. He could hear things that he normally would not have; the voice of crickets was louder. and he could pinpoint clearly where the singing birds were. His body also felt somehow different. He opened his eyes again and looked down to the puddle he was laying in.

This time there was no scream. Instead, he roared with a voice of mountains.

He could not see Harry the boy-who-lived. Or Harry the amazing lizardboy. Instead, there was a sleek and black dragon staring him with green eyes. He scrambled onto his legs and almost trampled the wings that were sticking out of his back. Dazedly, he looked around the clearing and realized that it was still the same clearing, but he was seeing it from vastly different perspective.

He felt that he should be panicking quite a lot at the moment. Maybe dragons were unable to panic, because he was more stunned and little bit alarmed. How had this happened? Had this really happened? Perhaps he was really just sleeping in somewhere. Maybe he had gone mad or died?

_What the hell I'm supposed to do now_, he thought. _Well, at least one thing is sure. If someone had asked me what magical being I would like to be most, a dragon would have made my top list_.


	2. Flight of the dragon

**Updated 31.7.2014, betaed by Shyannie**

Chapter 1: Flight of the dragon

A Dragon named Harry pondered his situation. He had found that walking on four legs was not very difficult as long as you didn't forget the tail and the wings. However, he may have mashed a few small trees before he got used to the extra bulk and the long tail he now carried. He was surprised at how fast he could move. The dragons in the Triwizard Tournament had been chained to the ground and been unable to show their speed. He was now quite thankful about it, because otherwise the dragons would just have eaten him and the others before they had time to do anything.

So he could move now in the forest, even if there were many pesky trees. Learning how to move around had taken his mind off of other problems and had been quite fun. Feeling the trees fall down when he pushed them gave him a sense of power that was just amazing. Now though, he was beginning to feel hungry. Rather doubting that there would be a supermarket for dragons around in the forest, and also remembering how much food Norbert had inhaled daily and, he was feeling apprehensive about finding food on his own.

He had seen some mice and birds, but they seemed so small. How was he supposed to catch one without smashing it to a pulp? And eating one mouse seemed like eating one grain of rice. So he needed something more. Something bigger. Maybe a deer? He had never killed a deer, or even imagined hunting and killing one with his own hands, or with claws at it was.

Come to think of it, he would also have to eat his potential deer raw. That did not seem appetizing at all. Maybe he could spit fire like some dragons and cook it somehow. He was just thinking about how to test his fire spitting talents, when he realized the possibly of setting the whole forest on fire was quite high. It would be probably best to delay the testing until he fould a lake or something that would not catch a fire.

Meanwhile, all this thinking was not helping his hunger. Harry sat down on the ground and focused on listening. Maybe he could hear a larger animal foraging for food or something. He had found out that his sense of smell was also far better than before, but he had some problems recognizing the different odors and their meanings.

Harry heard something on the left. The animal must have been long distance away, because the sound was very faint. Still it would be better to be too careful than alert the beast and go hungry. And so Harry started to quietly stalk towards his prey.

It turned out to be a wild boar. Or bacon, as Harry named it. There was still some distance between the boar and Harry. Harry tried to summon a memory of those nature shows that he had seen sometimes before the Dursleys chanced the channel. How was he supposed to catch the thing? He waited for some dragonian instinct to wake up and take the reins, but his new instincts must still have been in a coma.

With no other options available Harry stalked nearer. He wasn't the largest dragon that had ever existed, but it was still quite hard to hid his bulk and movements from the boar. In fact it was impossible. The boar noticed him and did the only thing it could and started to run away. Harry barreled after it and could almost taste the hind legs of the pig. His hunger roared. The boar sidestepped a tree and Harry followed. He, however, had forgotten his tail again and it smashed into the tree, which somehow fell straight towards him. He lunged away just before it crashed to the ground.

Harry stared the tree bewildered. He was sure that something had gone against the law of physics just now. He heard a squealing under the branches and saw that his dinner was stuck under the tree. He smelled a blood and his instincts finally awakened. He pounced over the squealing branches and tore them away. He skewered the boar with his talons and tore it apart with his fangs. He could taste the warm meat and blood, and it was… It was good. He really had no time to think about gently roasting it before he had swallowed every last bit of the pig. Even the bones were going down to his gullet.

Now that his hunger was appeased, he had energy to think about his situation more. What should he do next? He could try to find other wizards, maybe they could find out what happened to him. However, he was a dragon. How could he communicate with them without getting attacked by curses and stunners? He wondered if he could write with his claws on ground. However it seemed like dragon claws were not made for writing.

Desperation was starting to creep in when he thought about Charlie. He was a dragon tamer. Maybe he would be able to communicate with dragons to some degree. Just enough to see that he wasn't, well, a dragon. Problem was, Charlie was in Romania, and Harry had no idea how to get there. However, if he showed up at the Burrow, maybe Ron would contact Charlie. So all he had to do was to go the Burrow and hope for the best.

Except that he did not know where the Burrow was. He didn't even know where he himself was. He could be anywhere with trees and wild boars. Hogwarts did not really specialize in geography, so he could be in almost anywhere and not be able to recognize the place. Also, how would he get to the Burrow if he did know where to go? It was not like he could just run there. How would he avoid all the muggles?

Oh, right. He was a dragon. He had wings. It was weird how he had not understood that before now. He could fly. Fly without brooms or carpets. He was winged death that could probably spit fire from his jaws. All he had to do was flap his wings and…

The trees started to shake and old leaves started to fly from the ground. And that was all. No flight. He didn't even manage to float. He tried to jump and catch the wind, but jumping with his wings open was not really a good idea. He tried to jump and then open his wings, and he just floated before falling to the ground in heap. Next he found the biggest tree that he could and climbed up very carefully, before casting himself to the sky. That didn't work either. It didn't work at all.

He was clearly missing something vital about dragon flight. He didn't remember anything from Care of Magical Creatures, but Hagrid must have said something when he was going on about Norbert. If only he had listened more carefully. He had probably been dreaming about flying like a dragon instead of focusing on the lesson… Now that flying was possible he did not know how.

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He had been wandering in the forest now for few days. Training his skills as a dragon and trying to discover the secrets of flying. His success in the hunting had been varying, but he had not gone very hungry. He also found out that he did not need the ridiculous amount of food that Norbert had. Maybe Norbert had been so hungry because he needed energy to grow up.

He had also found out, that whatever this forest was, it was not very large one. It would take only around two days of traveling and he could find a road cutting through his forest. For now, the forest was enough for him, but the food would probably not last for long, even if he did not eat like Norbert had.

He needed to learn how to fly.

What was he missing? He had tried to remember all he could about how wings worked. He had stared at birds during the days, but it had not really helped him. He tried to remember again what he knew about dragons. They were great ancient magical beings that… They were magical… He didn't remember much about his earlier years in the muggle school, but he did know that it was not really plausible for the dragons to fly or even exists without magic.

So maybe he needed to do something magical to be able to fly. Now he just had to figure out what it was. It was quite hard until he remembered the night of his transformation. The amazing feeling of magic pouring in his veins and flowing all around him. Suddenly he could again see the flow of the magic and hear its song. It shocked him and he lost it for a while. However, he was able to find the magic again and revel in the wonder it was.

He felt like he should celebrate the magic or with the magic. It was so wonderful and beautiful. How could he have gone his whole life without seeing it? How empty the lives of wizards were. Walking around blind and deaf to the wonders of magic, thinking that they were able to bend it to their will and master it.

Harry started to hum with it. He felt the vibrations in his chest and heard the two sounds join in harmony. He wanted to dance with the magic, and the wish was somehow reflected in his own song. He felt the magic gather nearer and nearer to him. It flowed under his wings and body. He flapped his wings and gathered all power in his muscles and jumped into air.

The song of magic took a hold of him and raised him up more strongly than his own muscles ever could. He rose higher and higher, over the treetops and to the clouds. He roared his delight to the skies and to the magic's song that was laughing in joy.

He was free, so free.

* * *

Harry was flying in the clouds. He had not dared to fly lower, for the fear that muggles would see him. He, however, was forced from time to time dip little bit lower, so that he could see where he was going. It did not help him much, as the land under him was foreign. He saw more and more signs of habitation in the land below and knew he should think more clearly where to go.

He could not count on finding forests where he could hide and hunt anymore. Hunting was much easier to him, when he could attack from the skies. Because the lack of forests, he had been forced to steal some sheep and cows. The sheep he could eat without leaving a trace (well, there may be some blood or broken ground, but he had been careful). He felt a need to hide his traces for some reason. The cows were harder to hide though. They had a little more brains than the sheep and more meat. Flying with a full stomach was cumbersome, and so he was forced to hide the half-eaten cows as best as he was able.

The song around him vibrated. He had learned enough of the sounds that he knew it meant something was flying in the sky with him. He could not yet see them. From the vibrations of the song, he could tell that it was not a little bird. They caused different kind of notes in the song. He was soon able to see what or who were flying with him. Thirteen wizards were streaking toward him with brooms, wands held ready.

First Harry felt elated. He had found wizards at last- or they had found him. The feeling lasted only a fleeting moment. The unknown wizards did not seem inviting and he did not know what side they were on. His alarm increased when it seemed like they would start to shoot spells at him. Harry sang to the magic and rose steeply upward. He would rather escape the wizards than fight them.

The wizards brooms were fast. So fast that he could not leave them behind. He would outmaneuver few wizards only to find out that the three other wizards were closing on him from one direction or another. He did one of the most amazing Wwronski feints that he had ever done, but even that was not enough. The thirteen wizards were always waiting for opportunity and closing on him.

In the end, he was not able to best the wizards even with the help of the magic. Someone succeeded in shooting some kind of spell that covered his wing in some kind of heavy goo, which he was unable to shake off. Even though most of his flying was possible because of the magic, that did not mean his wings were not mandatory.

With one wing heavier than the other, it was impossible to fly. He started to descend lower in hopes that he would not be very far from the ground before his strength runs out. The wizards were circling him like vultures. He roared at them angrily. He had not had a chance to learn to spit fire yet, but when he was down they would feel his claws if they came too near.

He was almost on the ground when some spell hit his eyes. Now he roared in pain and lost control of his wings. Harry crashed upon the ground with a mighty thud. He was blind from the pain and stunned from the landing. He could not hear the wizards landing because of his own roaring and so was unable to defend himself against the many stunners that were cast upon him. The darkness that came was almost a blessing as it took the pain away.


	3. I spit on you

**So here is the next chapter. I'm wondering if the story is advancing too fast, but there was not really point on writing many chapters where Harry just runs around in forest chasing rabbits. Thanks so much to all who have been interested and especially to those who have commented. You are amazing and I hope you will enjoy this chapter.**

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**Updated 31.7.2014, betaed by Shyannie**

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Chapter 2: I spit on you

When Harry woke up, he was not a happy dragon. He had been transported again into some new place while he was unconscious, and his wings were hurt, and he was terribly afraid of what the fall had done to them. After he had learned to fly, he had soon become protective of his wings. After the eyes, they were probably one of the most vulnerable parts of the dragons. They were strong but lacked the heavy scales that projected him otherwise. There were some scales, but they were smaller and weaker. Too much weight on his wings would make flying too hard and prevent him from feeling the air currents and the magic.

He focused on his environment; he seemed to be in a cave. More specifically in a little alcove that was separated from the rest of the cave with bars. Harry tried to move closer to the bars to inspect them, but soon found out that he couldn't. The heaviness he was feeling was caused by the many chains that were spread over him, pinning him to the ground. There were chains in each of his feet's, three on his tail and two on his neck. A metal net with spikes tied his wings down and prevented him from moving. Any movement caused a sharp pain when his wings were torn a little bit more, he had to freeze or risk tearing his wings.

Harry looked carefully about, but there wasn't much to look at. There was only the dark stone walls around him outside his prison the cave curved to the left as a tunnel. From the tunnel there came a shiver of light, just enough that Harry could see clearly. He could also hear the steps of the wizards that were coming closer.

"Did you remember to take the sword? I`m not going to get it, if you forgot it again." A gravelly voice grumbled.

"Relax boss. It's on the top of the pile. Did Max find out what breed this one is?" The other one answered

"Not yet, but who cares. We caught the last one months ago and we need the money. Danell is already contacting the buyers." Harry could almost hear the greed in the voice of the boss. He found the entire conversation alarming. For what did they need a freaking sword for? It sounded like they were planning to sell him to someone and that didn't sound promising. These guys clearly weren't dragon keepers if what he had heard about Charlie was true.

The men arrived into his sight. Another of them was levitating a pile of boxes that he lowered to the ground. With a flick of the wand the boxes opened and unloaded their contents. There were different sized vials, smaller boxes, tubes and a very sharp looking sword that seemed to glow with dim light.

"Shit it´s awake. Should we wait and get the others here to stun it boss?" said shorter of the two.

"They are all covering our tracks and time is money. We just have to do this by ourselves. It's not a big one and the chains should hold it, just be careful of the teeth."

"But what if it decides to flame us? I don't want to be a black pile of ash. We don't need the blood so urgently."

"Shut up and take the sword and do your job. I`m not paying to hear your complaints and that seems to be only thing you are doing lately. It would have flamed us before we drove it to the ground if it could have." The boss yelled and threw the sword towards his underling, who had to scramble out of the way before the sword hit him. Harry growled when the underling grabbed the sword and approached him with it and one of the tubes. He had heard rumors about black market sellers and poachers that caught rare and projected magical beings and harvested their blood and organs for the money.

It looked like the rumors were true.

The distance between the bars were just enough that the underling was able to slide between them. Harry wondered for the moment how they had been able to get him into the cell trough the bars as he did not see any doors. He tried to snap at the man, but the chains held true and the spikes just dug deeper again. He tried to intimidate the underling by roaring, but to no avail. The sword rose and cut through his side leaving behind ice cold pain. No ordinary blade should have been able to harm him. Not in a place where the dragon's scales were their strongest. The blade must have been made by goblins or enchanted by someone very powerful.

The tube had a sharp needle like end that was stuck in the hole in his side and his blood started to flow through the tube and into the vials. Damn Dumbledore and his twelve uses of dragon blood. The underling left the cell quickly and joined his boss. They kept watching him and making sure that not a drop was wasted. Harry screamed at them and tried to get rid of the needle by shaking it off, even it did hurt his wings, but it was inserted too deeply into his flesh.

Eventually they filled their vials and packed them to the boxes again. They took off the tubes, but left the needle in his side "for later". They stopped the flow of blood by just putting a stopper into the end of it. It was painful, but not as bad as the net on his back. They threw some kind of funny smelling meat in front of him. Apparently they did not want to kill or weaken him too much with the hunger. After all, he did a have more blood in him. They had taken a lot, but not enough to really weaken him.

He had read in The Daily Prophet how the black market harvesters worked. He was afraid that his blood would not be enough for them in the long run. What would he do when some potion master wanted to buy the eye of the dragon or a pound of his flesh? His luck had really run out this time. He started to eat the meat before him. He would need his strength if he was to escape.

He would also need a plan. It seemed like his captors were careless about their safety and that could help him. Maybe he could get a good bite out of them. And then they would be dead like Vernon probably was.

Vernon… Was his uncle alive or dead? He hoped he had not inadvertently killed him. What would they have told the police? Probably that he had gone crazy and shot his uncle. Even if his uncle was dead, could anyone really blame him? After all, his uncle had kind of shot himself. Why was he even thinking about this? He had tried to forget all of it as much as possible, and he needed an escape plan. But he was so sleepy; maybe he should sleep and conserve his strength.

* * *

This time when Harry woke up he was feeling nauseous and like his head was stuffed with cotton. He was really starting to hate waking up. It seemed like every time he did, his situation had just worsened. He could hear his captors returning, the sound had probably woken him up. He could also smell the meat he had not eaten yet.

"Seems like it took the bait and ate the meat boss. Shouldn't have any problems with collecting the blood now." The underling laughed. Harry swore in his mind. The meant had smelled funny, but he had just thought that it was just from some animal he had not found himself. He felt too weak to protest very much as the men inserted their tubes and started to collected his blood. He tried to find the song of magic, but it escaped him.

They threw more of the meat to him, but he knew better than eat it now. Soon, though, he wound his hunger awake. It was very hard to combat his need for food, and his weakened health did not help. All his instincts were screaming that he needed the strength a meal would give him, but the meat before him was not good.

In the end, the hunger won. He had grown used to not eating as much when he was a human, but the instincts of the dragon were stronger and different than he was used to… So he ate and fell into a fitful dream once again.

It was pretty much how the next few days went. His would wake up when his blood was being sucked out and then fight a losing battle against his hunger while his enemies laughed and grew richer. He felt his body grow little weaker every day, but at the same time his stubbornness started to grow. He was able to eat smaller amounts and stay awake longer. When he was lucid enough he would try to figure out how to spit fire. He figured that it must work like flying. A combination of physical features of the dragons augmented by the magic. He just could not consternate enough to find the music because of the weird meat.

Finally, one day, his stubbornness won over the hunger just for a few minutes. He had fallen for a moment and just taken a piece of meat when his anger over the situation bubbled over and he spit the meat away. He watched as it flew to the other side of bars out of his reach, and at the same time felt his hunger roar.

His eyes widened on the realization and he gathered the meat into his mouth as fast as possible before spitting it out of the reach. After that his hunger rose again, but it did not seem to be so urgent anymore. It was like winning for that one short moment had made it easier to bear. He did not sleep much that night. Instead he rested awake and hoped that without the meat he would be able to think more clearly and contact the magic before being offered the poisonous food again.

* * *

They were again in front of him, but this time there was five of them. Harry did not like at all the change in the routine.

"Well beastie, this is the last time you will be seeing us. We have found a buyer who will pay most generously to get fresh dragon bone and heart. Besides we are all out of unicorn meat to feed you, so it's time to say bye bye." The boss laughed and took the sword they had used on the first time out of its scabbard. Other wizards were fanning around him and brandishing their wands or preparing big containers and huge knives.

Harry felt sick. He had been eating flesh of the unicorn. He well remembered how beautiful and lovely they were and even drinking their blood made you curse. And he had been eating them. And now his captors were planning on killing and butchering him too.

The leader was coming closer with his blade, and his time was running out. He needed to hear the magic and he needed to do it now. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. For a second he remembered Snape and the disastrous occlumens lessons. He could hear the steps coming nearer him and almost felt a phantom blade severing his neck. He prayed to the magic. He needed to hear the brilliant song to be able to fight.

He could almost hear the magic whispering to him when the steps stopped in front of him. He rared in denial, he needed just a little more time, but there was none.

So he gathered all his strength and steeled himself. Then in a final attempt to gain more time he tried to open his wings and smite the human down with his tail or legs. Agony erupted in his wings and he could smell his own blood once again. This time it was just coming from the tears in his wings. He could feel it dripping from his wings to the ground. The boss stepped back in alarm and at the same time the pain helped Harry to fight the last effects the unicorn meat had on him.

He heard the song bursting out around him, and sang to it about his need. His would-be killers did not seem to hear his song as they did not react in any way. He himself felt a spark igniting in his chest. There were only evil people in front of him and no forests to set on fire. So he spit on them.

An inferno left his mouth and the boss of the poacher ring was just gone. Some unknown wizard that had been nearest the boss was also caught in the fire. Rest of them yelled in panic and scrambled to the exit. He breathed fire again and third wizard died while the other two fled from him. Harry roared in triumph and anger after them and sang thanks to the magic.

He was still alive and he could fight back at last. None of the wizards would be able to sneak up on him or deceive his and magic's senses. Any that would try, he could kill. His laughter escaped his mouth in a chuffing cough.

Then reality hit him again. He had just killed three humans. It was to save himself, but they still died. And he was still chained to the ground, unable to escape. He had no food or water. He had gained some liquid from the meat, but he had not had real water for a while. Instead of dying fast and cleanly, he now was faced with the threat of dying slowly from hunger.


	4. Out of the dark

**Updated 31.7.2014, betaed by Shyannie**

Chapter 3: Out of the dark

The poachers had tried to get him under their control few times. They were always forced to retreat because the flames. In the open skies they had a vantage because they could attack him from multiple directions. In the narrow tunnel Harry could flame them all easily before they had time to do anything. He was afraid that they would decide to collapse the tunnel, but that had not yet happened. They didn't really need to, after all. Even if he had the advantage in fighting, they could just wait for the hunger and thirst to kill him.

He had tried to use his flames on the chains; he figured that his own scales would be proofed against his own flame. However, he could not reach the chains and so stayed imprisoned. Harry would have tried to free himself with physical strength alone, but he could feel the damage he had received while fighting the boss. The pain was horrible, he was afraid how torn his wings must be and if it was possible that they would get infected. Well if he died, he had at least taken some of his captors with it. Somehow, the thought did not help him to battle against the rising depression.

He considered trying to pull out the chains again, even if he did injure himself more at the process. Just doing nothing wouldn't work in the long term. He didn't want to just lie there and die without a fight. He wasn't ready for the next great adventure yet. He would not just disappear and die as a dragon, leaving all who knew him to wonder his fate.

Suddenly he heard a distant yell. Maybe the poachers were fighting about who would be their next boss. He had heard short discussions when they returned to kill him. It had sounded like there was trouble in paradise as three of the wizards attempted to fill the shoes of their departed leader. If anyone had asked him, he would have said that they could all kill themselves, but of course no one had asked.

The yellers were fast approaching him. He wondered why they were running towards him. Maybe they were gathering courage so they would have the guts to come and kill him? He strained his ears. It was strange. It sounded like there was a small war going on. He started to recognize some spells. He smiled gleefully; maybe they would kill each other. As the war came closer, he prepared himself. He would, of course, help them by sending his love in the form of fiery missive.

He could see the flashes of spells and shadows of combatants. He blasted his fire towards them a little too prematurely. Only the back of the robes of one person burned. He could hear a few surprised cries over the battle and felt scorn. Had they truly been so engrossed in their petty struggles that they had forgotten his very existence?

"The dragon is still alive!" Someone shouted. Harry felt a little confused. Of course he was still alive, they should know it as they had tried to kill him only a few hours earlier. Dragons were hardly so delicate that he would just die by himself so fast.

"Give up and drop your wands. There's nowhere to run anymore! Go any further and you will burn, try to fight any longer and you will fell to our spells. It's time to meet justice for your deeds!" Enthusiastic voice rang out and Harry started to understand what was happening. It wasn't that the poacher that were fighting for the leadership; instead, another party had arrived. It sounded like they were officials of some kind. Maybe the Aurors had found out the poachers camp.

Harry sent more flames to the backs of the poachers as a reminder that he would be far too happy to roast them alive. His fire must have helped as there were fewer spells and soon the fighting stopped completely, the poachers lost their wands and were imprisoned. He was left alone in the back of the cave, but he could hear the newcomers investigating the cave. He waited impatiently with hope in his heart. Maybe he would not die in this dank cave after all.

"What are we doing with the dragon? The dragon keepers are quite eager to see it. I don't think that the dragon is so keen on seeing us though. It was good luck that the keepers were fighting in other areas, or they would have run straight into those flames. The whole lot of them are crazier than a bottle full of pixies."

"Better we let them face the dragon than do it by ourselves. I don't get it. How did those idiots manage to evade us for so long but then screwed up completely with the dragon. Did you see the burns some of them had? I heard that some of them had it worse and are now ashes."

Harry was sure he should not grin for causing pain to other human beings, but he could not help himself. He hoped that the dragon keepers would storm the Aurors and bring him food while they admiring him. He was quite sure that they would treat him better than the poachers. If for some reason they didn't, he could burn them to the ground now.

On second thought, he would have to wait until they got him out before showing them his skill with fire. After all, he could not remember if the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures had the rights to dispose dragons. It would be a good idea to appear as a little tame dragon for a while and see what would happen.

Harry dreamed about his next meal that he believed that was just around the corner. Maybe he could even communicate with the keepers; however, he was very much disappointed. Firstly, the Aurors did not give clearance to the keepers to come near him. There were some words chanced about the subject between the keepers and the Aurors. They almost began to sling spells at each other before it was agreed that the keepers could see him.

However, after having been granted permission to enter, they showed unexpended restraint and started to strategize what would be the best way to approach him. In the end, they proofed one keeper with the most powerful fireproofing spells they knew, and gave him a dropped dragon scale to act as a shield and a sheep for adistraction.

Harry was quite happy with the distraction.

The keeper was definitely unhappy thought. He started to yell about the chains that held him and seemed to be furious about the net on his back and the damage caused to his wings. This made Harry like the keeper even more. It seemed his end of the cave was soon swarming with outraged keepers that had come to inspect the situation after the first shouts.

"Look, it must be a hybrid breed. The coloring indicates the Herbidean black or the Hungarian Horntail, but it lacks the spikes. The wings have similar shape to the Swedish Short-Snout."

"But can you see how the shape of the body has some of the Common Welsh Green in it? It is rare to see hybrids that have characters of so many different breeds. This seems to be young one, not yet two years old, but near it. I don't know about the wings, it's hard to say with them being tied up and torn. I don't like at all of those old blood puddles in the ground." The keepers went on and on about his different features. How his horns curved and how long his tail was and if it was over the average length or not.

They were quite careful around him, as an injured dragon was usually a very angry dragon. So they fed him more sheep to divert his attention. They were thinking about stunning him, so that they could spell the chains and net away in peace. Harry decided that maybe pretending to fall to the sleep would be his best bet to avoid getting stunned again.

It didn't really work. It seemed like that the keepers weren't stupid and knew that even ordinary dragons could be sly and crafty. So they stunned him in case he was bluffing or would wake up too soon. This time Harry did not mind it so much. After all, he did believe that they would take off the chains and help him. If he had been in their shoes, he would not have taken the risk with an unknown dragon either.

* * *

When Harry opened his eyes, he saw sunlight and smelled the forest. He was in a pen surrounded by few dragon keepers that were watching him. There was still a chain on his neck, but it was longer, so he could move freely. The weight of the net was missing and he could freely move his wings. He tried to flap them few times. The wind felt wonderful on his scales but they were still too torn for flying; the pain has lessened, but they were still sore.

"Well, he seems calm" Someone said from behind him. The voice was familiar and Harry spun around so fast that he stepped on his tail and almost fell down. Luckily, it was easier to stay upright when you were walking with four legs instead of two. It would have been really embarrassing to fall down in front of Charlie.

Harry was ecstatic to see a familiar face. There was the familiar red head and freckles that made him miss Ron and Hermione. He had not seen Charlie much, but the countless tales from he had heard the twins and Ron hat had clearly reflected their admiration of their older brother.

"Is that dragon purring?" The woman next to Charlie asked. "I think it is. What did you do, Charlie? The dragons seems to be charmed by you." She seemed to be little bit of jealous of the redhead.

"Charlie the Charmer! Watch out or you will have a new boyfriend. Never seen a dragon that purrs, so it must be a love at first sight!" One of the keepers laughed out.

"I don't know what I did, Leah, but of course it loves me. Who wouldn't? I'm, after all, the best dragon keeper in this lot." Smiling Charlie quipped back. Harry laughed and the keepers turned to stare at him again. Purring and laughing were things that dragons usually just didn't do, at least if there where humans around listening.

"Well then, you will be this beauty's fulltime keeper and healer. Try not to get eaten!" Leah said and other keepers groaned in disappointment or sighed in relief. After all, it was a great honor to be a fulltime keeper, and there was the possibility of establishing a unique relationship with the dragon in question. However, it was a great deal of work, and with an injured dragon it would be even more dangerous than usually.

Creating a true connection with a dragon didn't always happen either. Sometimes the dragon (or the keeper) was too ornery and stubborn. The bond between the keeper and the dragon also didn't guarantee that the dragon wouldn't swat his keeper to pulp if he got too angry. Especially if the dragon was a female, as their connection to their eggs and offspring was much deeper than that to their keeper.

However, it seemed like Charlie would have a good opportunity to create the bond that all dragon keepers wished to have with the black dragon. His chances seemed even higher when Harry laid down in front of his feet and acted like an over-grown kitten wishing to have his ears scratched.

* * *

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	5. Attention and Information

Chapter 4: Attention and Information

Charlie was an excellent dragon keeper, or so Harry decided. Three times a day he brought Harry something to eat. Every day, the meal was different than the previous day. He brought everything from beef to mountain of chicken. He didn't bring meat that someone had butchered weeks ago either. Instead, Charlie just spelled the animals to remain calm so that Harry could eat them when they were as fresh as possible. When he had been a human, he would have cringed about eating them so fresh. He had, however, learned to like the taste of the raw meat while hunting for himself before his capture. Also, after eating the unicorn meat, he didn't feel like trusting in prepared meat if he didn't see the animal it came from.

There were some areas where Charlie did need practice. He really should have let Harry move freely in the forest, instead of keeping him in the pen. It was a nice and roomy pen, but restricting his movements was a bad habit. Another problem was how someone seemed to stun him after he had fallen asleep. Sure, it seemed that there were good reasons for it, but it still didn't build trust. They could have tried to rub a healing salve into his wings while he was awake.

He had tried to find a way to tell Charlie, that he wasn't a real dragon, but his efforts went unnoticed. Some of the keepers had looked at him oddly, but no one had suddenly yelled that he must be Harry Potter who has been turned to dragon. Instead, Charlie had given him a new name: Mar.

At the moment, Charlie spoke to him in calming voice and crept closer. He had heard other keepers mention this to be their bonding time. He would have snorted at the thought, but chose not to; for some reason, keepers were sure that snorting meant that he wanted to spit fire to them, and he really didn't want to scare Charlie. He was a model dragon most of the time, but still the Weasley seemed to be too careful around him. He took that to mean that the keepers were just extremely respectful towards dragons… Or at least their teeth and strength.

Charlie was now almost within touching distance. Harry tried to stay relaxed and directed his gaze left of the keeper. He hoped that it would signal that he wasn't feeling threatened or angry. It seemed to work as he saw Charlie reaching towards him from the corner of his eye. Then he could feel it, Charlie's hand on his side. The magic sang about the joy the man beside him was feeling, and Harry fought laughter. He let out a little purr that made Charlie flinch for a second, but then he too joined the purr with his own laughter.

There were other keepers around the pen in case Charlie needed a quick extraction. They looked on with jealous eyes, hoping that they would one day get close enough to a dragon that would not wish to rip them apart. Harry could not help enjoying a little bit of the attention he was getting. Again, he was struck by differences in the personalities between his human and dragon form. Before he had hated any kind of attention, but now he felt like he deserved it.

Before he had not felt like he had earned the attention. It had often meant bad things for him, as disgusting rumors were spread about him or people expected great things from him after having read all kinds of lies. However, even he had felt awe when he had first seen a dragon. They were magnificent and dangerous and he felt that every dragon, even he himself, was owed a little bit of notice.

He heard a loud crack in the woods, where he knew the apparition point was. Soon enough, the magic sang about the newcomer. He was on the downwind and had learned enough of scents to know that this wasn't any of the regular keepers that had been loitering around his pen. Even if Charlie was mainly responsible of him, there were quite a number of other keepers that were there meant to keep him in line, heal him, or protect Charlie while he was bonding with Harry.

Harry saw an older redheaded man emerging from the forest. He raised his head a little bit and chuffed as a welcome.

"Hey! Whoah Mar, easy boy." Charlie said removing his hand from his scales. He turned to look what had caught the dragon's interest and saw his father walking to the edge of the fence. "That's just my dad Mar. I'll go see what he wants and then come back, okay?" He continued and left slowly.

Harry was sad to see him go, as he had hoped to gain little more of Charlie's trust, but he was also quite interested in what brought Arthur Weasley to see his son. If he was lucky, he could hear what Order of the Phoenix was doing. Or maybe there would be other news how things were going back home. When it seemed that Charlie was about to go other side of the fence Harry snaked his tail in front of him. It caused a nervous reaction in the keepers, as they knew that the potential the tail had as a weapon. Harry was afraid that they would try to stun him or something, but he didn't want to take the chance that the Weasleys would go somewhere where he couldn't listen the conversation. However when Harry didn't do anything else they relaxed little

"Sorry dad, it seems like Mar here doesn't want to let me go at the moment." Charlie greeted his father, who was looking apprehensive about his son's safety. He knew that his son worked with dragons, but it was completely different to see him petting one.

"Are you sure it's good idea to be so close to a dragon? I mean I can see he is quite handsome, but can you think what your mother would say? By the way, do you mind if we use the muffling spell? We need to speak about family matters." Arthur inquired.

"Not at all. Mar seems to be calm so it should be okay. Muffliato. Now has something happened with the family or did you need to speak about something else?" Harry was glad that he could still hear Charlie's voice even after the spell. It must have been ineffective against dragons or because his tail was between the men, the spell considered him to be part of it. He added the task of figuring out how fell spells worked against dragons into his tasklist. It would be wicked to be able to hear what was said under silencing spells. He was sure he could hear the most interesting conversations that way. Or maybe he would be able to see trough illusions, he could finally know if Snape was a vampire that just hid his fangs with spell.

"A lot has happened. Albus wanted me to contact you sooner, but we couldn't find you while you were looking for the poacher ring. There have been some rumors that You-Know-Who has been interested in dragons, but most of us don't believe in it. More alarming news is that Harry has gone missing and his uncle is in critical condition according to the muggle healers. No one knows really what happened, because Harry's family very upset and no one can make sense of them. The aunt starts to yell when she sees wizards and the cousin tries to hide behind the couch. Albus had us looking for him, but there hasn't been a sign anywhere." Arthur explained in worried tone.

"Sorry, but those poachers have been pests for so long. They killed a few dragons before we caught them, and when we heard about Mar roaming freely around here and then disappearing… You should have seen in how poor condition he was, it will still take some time for him to be able to fly again." Charlie frowned and looked back at Harry sadly. "How was Harry coping with what happened in the Department of Mysteries? Or for that matter, how about Ginny and Ron?"

"They had some nightmares; unfortunately, this is not the first time that they have been through something like that. I worry about them, with all that has happened in the Hogwarts in the last years. It feels like Ron thinks that… Well, no matter, I'm sure he will get over it. I don't know how Harry was taking it. Albus didn't let us contact him because of security reasons, but it must have been worse for him. Losing his godfather like that... Well, at least because the security measures the Unspeakables haven't been able to pester him like they have done to us others." Arthur's words caused Harry to feel again the depression about Sirius. He also felt guilty about his friends having nightmares, but they had chosen to accompany him themselves. He had his own nightmares to worry about.

"Unspeakables? What do they want now?"

"No one really knows. They have been interrogating us all what happened in the department of mysteries. Fred and George are sure that one of the brains took over Ron's and the Unspeakables want it back because- well, it's just something the twins use to annoy Ron." Arthur explained.

Harry was glad that he had not been interrogated about the battle. At the same time, he felt that security was a stupid reason to keep everyone away from him. Had they not learned yet what secrets caused? Had Sirius' death meant nothing? He growled and thumped his tail to the ground few times before he remembered to rein his anger in. Sometimes his tail just seemed to have a mind of its own.

He gained control too late, Arthur jumped away from the fence and his tail clipped Charlie, who fell to the ground. Harry withdrew his tail hastily and ran next to Charlie. He twisted his neck to examine Charlie from all directions to see if he had caused any harm. He cursed in his mind, he had not meant to forget his own strength or that Charlie had been next to his tail. Luckily, it seemed that he had just pushed Charlie down and no other harm had come to him. Harry still made a vow to be more vigilant in the future.

The keepers and Arthur were yelling about him trying to eat Charlie and brandishing their wands. They did not dare to hit him with spells, for fear that he would trample the prone man. Harry lowered himself to the ground and whined in the most pathetic way he could and looked mournfully at Charlie. Slowly, the keepers ceased their yelling and waving in favor of staring the strangely acting dragon.

"Merlin's bloody beard! That's just not normal. What is wrong with that dragon? It is whining? Dragons don't whine." Leah yelled angrily. She looked scared, and Harry was struck again with regret. He liked most of the keepers. They were good for him and the jokes and stories they told each other were just brilliant even if they were often dirty. He hoped that he would be one day able to tell them to someone himself.

"Hey, be glad he is whining instead of eating me. It seems that Mar didn't mean to cause any harm. He probably just got resentful about me not giving him enough attention." Charlie joked as he rose from the ground. Joking notwithstanding, he still took couple of steps away and out of the pen. Harry looked sadly as he left and whined again to show how very sorry he was. He hoped that he hadn't screwed things up too badly.

He would just have to work harder to gain Charlie's trust. It would be nice if the other keepers wouldn't be so wary of him, but for now it would be enough to get Charlie into his side. It would be something to do while he tried to develop his plan of what to do next... Hopefully, it would also take away the loneliness he was feeling.

**Betaed by Shyannie**

**Sorry about the wait, but my holidays are over so I don't have so much time to write. As you can see, I now have Beta, w****hich is great. This means also, that earlier chapters have been edited. Mistakes have been corrected and some sentences changed or added and so on. However, there's not really changes in the plot.**

**Thank you so much for reviews, they mean a great deal for me. **


	6. Feeling the feelings

Chapter 5: Feeling the feelings

Days passed and Harry grew restless. He had been on his best behavior constantly around the clock. It had paid off, the keepers were relaxed around him and they didn't brandish their wands at the first unexpected movement, but it was also very stressful to consider every movement and gesture beforehand. There were fewer keepers caring for him, as he was healthier and calm. Some of the keepers had left to prepare his place in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary or were negotiating how to move him without alerting any muggles.

Preparations would still take weeks, but Harry felt the time running out. What if Charlie would be ordered to care other dragons too? He didn't want to share his human with anyone! He could imagine some Swedish Short-Snout sticking its overlarge head and demanding Charlie to pet it. Or worse, a Chinese Fireball prancing around like a peacock; showing off those scarlet scales they had.

They would try to steal his Charlie, he was sure of it. When they did, they would feel his wrath. Humans weren't a threat, they couldn't steal Charlie from him in the same way another dragon could. But dragons… The fights would be unavoidable if they tried to take his human. He would rip their scales out with his talons, bite their necks until their anguishing screams wade away. They would regret their existence and Harry would just laugh as he drank their deliciously hot blood while their entrails pool out of the wounds he made. It would be so sweet…

Harry violently drew his mind away from bloodshed and mayhem. The more their relationship grew, the more he felt that Charlie belonged to him. And dragons didn't share well; they hoarded and projected their belongings with a jealous rage that no human could truly understand. Harry had enough human in him that he could restrain himself from acting on that rage, but he also understood that a real dragon wouldn't hold back down if it detected even a hint of threat.

"Hello, Mar! I decided to make a surprise visit." Charlie greeted him. Harry blinked his eyes in shock; he had been so distracted by his own thoughts, that he hadn't noticed the man. Harry blew a puff of warm air in Charlie's face as his own greeting. Before this would have caused a hasty retreat on Charlie's part, but now he just laughed.

"Woah, you really should try to wash your teeth mate. Your breath could kill a troll!" Harry pretended to be offended and growled at Charlie. At the same time he wondered if anyone made dragon sized breath mints. The wizarding world seemed to have everything available somewhere, so maybe it was possible. Maybe he could order them with owl-post.

"I wish that I knew what you are thinking about. I haven't seen such an expressive dragon before." Charlie lamented. Harry whined softly, he had tried to find a way to speak with Charlie, but it just seemed to be impossible. Lately he had not even bothered to try. It just seemed so pointless.

Sometimes his lack of motivation scared him. It felt like humanity was slipping through his fingers, and the roar of his inner dragon was becoming louder. Being a dragon seemed to be natural, maybe more natural, than being a human ever was. He just forgot that he should try to find a way to become human again. For the first time in a very long time, he felt happy and comfortable in his life.

He missed his friends less and less. When he heard a funny joke, he no longer wanted to tell it to Ron or Hermione. Instead he saved his jokes and stories for Charlie. Expect that he could not tell them to him either.

"It would be so amazing if you could talk." Charlie echoed his thoughts and Harry mentally sent his agreement. "Sometimes, I almost believe that you can understand English. Maybe you can, but we humans are just too stupid to understand what dragons are speaking." Charlie continued. He gave Harry a pat and then left to join other keepers to their evening meal, leaving Harry alone with his depressing thoughts.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"We have to let him fly! Otherwise, his wings may not heal to be strong enough." Charlie was yelling to Leah. His eyes burned with outrage, and the normally calm man was gesturing wildly with his arms.

"I say it's too dangerous. It can fly when we get to the reserve. It's too bothersome to control dragon in air here." Leah retorted coolly. They had been fighting for a while now. The other dragon keepers had stopped to stare the fight. No one had intervened for now, but they seemed anxious. The keepers were a tight-knit group who lived at their work place, fights were rare and never a good thing.

"So you would jeopardize Mar's health because you are too lazy? Is that it?" Charlie was almost foaming at the mouth. Harry was keen on being allowed to fly, but he was worried that Charlie would get a heart attack or some sort of seizure soon.

"For God's sake, Charlie! If the dragon can't fly for days at a time anymore, then so what? It's going to a reserve! It doesn't need to fly so much! If it can't fly, well then we don't have to catch it, because it can't escape like the others. We can keep a eye on it until it heals and gets used to its new life." Leah yelled back, losing her temper. A thick silence fell down. It seemed that time stopped for a moment. Charlie stared Leah in disgust. She paled as she realized what she had just said.

"Maybe you should leave and go look T how things are going on the reserve then. I think I speak for everyone in this." Charlie hissed. Some of the keepers nodded, their expressions stone cold. They were all here, because of their love of dragons, and now their leader was proposing to hurt one. Harry hissed viciously; keepers were supposed to be on his side, and one of them was trying to deny him the skies. Without use his wings could heal wrong, crippling him for life. Leah's face contorted in rage and hurt for a moment. Then she turned sharply on the spot and apparated away.

The keepers and Harry stood in the silence, wondering what would happen now. The silence dragged on and on. It was an angry silence, filled with disappointment and betrayal. They couldn't imagine how one of their own could think that way. They had thought that they knew each other, but now they doubted their fellows.

"I'll go get the long chain. Prepare the wards for the flight." Charlie commanded, breaking the silence and leaving. The keepers stared each other for a while before they jerked to action; strengthening the wards around the pen. Harry watched them excitedly; it seemed that he could fly soon.

Soon Charlie was back with a long chain. He tied the other end to the ground with a spell that Harry had never heard before. Then he levitated the other end to Harry and attached it to his collar. Only after he had ensured that the new chain was properly fastened, he detached the shorter chain.

Harry opened his wings immediately and jumped to the air. The beat of his wings raised dust from the ground. Keepers backed away and covered their faces from the wind. He was still weak, and he knew that he couldn't fly for long, so he had to enjoy every second he was in the air. The chain on his neck was heavy and restricting, and for moment he dreamed about escaping. Soon though, he abandoned the idea; he didn't have the strength for it, and it would mean leaving Charlie behind.

Instead, a wicked idea sparked to life inside his mind.

He dived towards his target. Just before he hit the ground, he leveled his flight and scooped the certain redhead into his claws. Before the dragon handlers had time to act, he threw Charlie onto his back and rose up. He could feel Charlie scrambling on his back, trying to find something to hold on. His laugher joined the wizard's curses.

Harry thought it was a pretty clever idea to reward his keeper by giving him this gift. He doubted that any other human has flown on the back of a dragon like this. He was disappointed that he could not show all the aerial tricks he knew; the chain wasn't very long. It would also be a bad idea to perform very deep turns; after all, it would be easy to drop Charlie.

If he was unlucky enough to _misplace_ him, it would be hard to catch the keeper when he was forced to stay so close to the ground. Of course, there were plenty of wizards around with wands, so they would probably help - not that he was counting on their help.

Charlie didn't trust the other wizards. On the other hand he didn't trust Harry either. He could feel how the redhead was stiff as a board and clutching him with all of his might. Harry could taste the fear in the air, even if he didn't see Charlie.

He _felt_ the moment Charlie let go of his apprehension, when he started to really trust in Harry and enjoy himself. It was more than just feeling the tension running out of the wizards' body or the ceasing of the cursing. The yell of joy wasn't didn't cause the feeling either.

Harry felt his awareness melting to that of Charlie's. Feeling the trust and joy they shared and really understanding each other. They were just at perfectly harmony at that moment, enjoying the wind flowing around them and the freedom.

Except, Harry wasn't free. Even if the dragon keepers meant well, he was still prisoner. He felt the collar suffocating him and the chain pulling him downwards.

The moment broke.

They separated and the word seemed to be a colder place for it. Even the memory of that one perfect moment fade from his memory. Harry descended slowly and landed in his pen. He lowered himself as far as he could, so Charlie could jump down easily. He felt Charlie hesitate, but in the end he climbed down.

"What just- why?" Charlie stammered. He looked so confused and disappointed. Harry turned his gaze to the ground and closed his eyes. He couldn't meet his gaze at the moment. It was too painful.

"What the hell, Charlie! That dragon is crazy! It just took you, you're lucky he didn't drop you. Man, what was it like to fly?" The other keepers swarmed him and Charlie. One of them chanced the chains on him and Harry rose up and slunk away from the hustle. He just wanted to sleep and ponder the situation later- much later.

Harry sighed as he lay down to sleep. He should be happy. After all, he was looked after and he wasn't alone. After what he went through with the poacher living with the dragon keepers was wonderful. However, flying had brought back the memories of the forest and the true freedom he had felt in those first weeks as a dragon. It had reminded him, that even if he wasn't tortured anymore, he was still in cage. It was gilded cage, and the shine from the bars had blinded him for a while. Could he really go on like this? He didn't really know if the reserve would be any better than this pen. He knew that restrictions on dragons were numerous; they were so hard to hide from the muggles.

The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was Charlie standing in the midst of the other keepers. They were so excited and happy, wondering what a mad dragon they had stumbled upon. Then his keeper lifted his gaze and stared at him worriedly.

**Betaed by Shyannie**


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